More than a year into the Israel-Hamas war, Israelis express growing doubts about peace with Palestinians, according to a Pew Research Center survey.
Research in the West Bank and Gaza
Pew Research Center has polled the Palestinian territories in previous years, but we were unable to conduct fieldwork in Gaza or the West Bank for our February-March 2025 survey due to security concerns. We are actively investigating possibilities for both qualitative and quantitative research on public opinion in the region.
The survey was conducted Feb. 5-March 11, 2025, among a nationally representative sample of 998 Israeli adults. It is the Center’s second annual survey in Israel since the start of the war on Oct. 7, 2023. The field period coincided with the most recent ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, and the survey was completed before hostilities resumed on March 18.
Likelihood of peace
We find that 21% of Israeli adults think Israel and a Palestinian state can coexist peacefully – the lowest percentage since we began asking this question in 2013. This share is down 14 percentage points since spring 2023, several months before the Israel-Hamas war started.
The share of Jewish Israelis who think peaceful coexistence is possible is also low (16%). Arab Israelis are more optimistic (40%) about the possibility of an independent Palestinian state coexisting with Israel, a prospect often called a “two-state solution.”
Commitment to peace
A slim majority of adults in Israel (56%) say the Israeli people are committed to working toward lasting peace. But fewer think this is true of the Palestinian people (41%) or of the leadership on either side.
About half of Israelis (47%) say their own government is very or somewhat committed to working toward lasting peace. A similar share (45%) say the Palestinian Authority is at least somewhat committed to seeking peace. Just 20% of Israelis say this about Hamas, the main organization at war with Israel in the Gaza Strip.
Obstacles to peace
Israelis see several things as at least minor obstacles to peace: the status of Jerusalem, Israeli settlements in the West Bank, conflict between the left and right in Israeli politics, and conflict between Hamas and Fatah on the Palestinian side.
But the most frequently cited obstacle is a lack of trust between Israelis and Palestinians. Three-quarters of Israelis call this a major obstacle to lasting peace.
International actors
Israelis are skeptical about foreign involvement in efforts to facilitate lasting peace. They see the influence of several countries – as well as the United Nations – as harmful rather than helpful.
The United States is an exception: 81% of Israelis say the U.S. is helpful in the work toward lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians.
Still, half of Israelis say U.S. President Donald Trump is favoring Israelis too much in his foreign relations, while 2% say he favors Palestinians too much and 42% say he favors each group the right amount.
In the following report, we look more closely at how Israelis view:
- Likelihood of peace and each side’s commitment to it
- Obstacles to peace
- International actors and their contributions to peace
- Israeli and Palestinian leaders
Related: How Americans view Israel and the Israel-Hamas war at the start of Trump’s second term
Views of contested territories
Israelis identify several contested territories as obstacles on the path to peace with the Palestinians.
Seven-in-ten (70%) say the status of Jerusalem, a city that both Israelis and Palestinians claim as their capital, is a major obstacle. Roughly half (52%) say the same of surrounding Israeli settlements in the West Bank. The settlements are considered illegal under international law, though Israel disputes this claim – and among the Israeli public, more say the continued building of West Bank settlements helps the security of their country (44%) rather than hurts it (35%).
As for Gaza, a third of Israelis believe Israel should govern the territory after the war, down from 40% in spring 2024. In particular, Israeli Jews and Israelis on the ideological right are less likely to say Israel should govern Gaza compared with last year.
A smaller share of the Israeli public would rather let the people who live in Gaza decide who governs them (16%). And relatively few prefer a unity government led by the Palestinian Authority – either with (6%) or without (10%) the leadership of President Mahmoud Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen – or control by the United Nations (2%). Just 1% of Israelis say Hamas should govern Gaza after the war ends. A combined 11% say they would like to see some other person or group in charge.
As to whether the international community will recognize an independent Palestinian state in the next five years, more Israelis say this is unlikely (51%) than say it is likely (40%).
Related: Fewer Israelis support Israel taking over Gaza now than in 2024
Read more about Israeli views of obstacles to peace with Palestinians in Chapter 2.
Views of Israeli and Palestinian politics
Israelis generally voice unfavorable views of their own political leaders, both those in power and in the opposition.
Support for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was at a low ebb in the Center’s 2024 survey (58% unfavorable vs. 41% favorable). Today, a similar share of Israeli adults see the leader of their country in a negative light (53% unfavorable vs. 45% favorable). The two opposition party leaders we asked about – Benny Gantz and Yair Lapid – receive poor marks, too, with unfavorable views of Gantz up 10 points since 2024 (from 44% to 54% unfavorable).
Israelis are even more critical of Palestinian leaders. Abbas and Marwan Barghouti, the latter a prominent Fatah member detained by Israel since 2002, are viewed unfavorably by 85% and 80% of the Israeli public, respectively.
As the war continues, Israelis are divided about their own leaders’ level of commitment to working toward lasting peace with Palestinians: 47% say the Israeli government is very or somewhat committed to peace, while 49% say it is not too or not at all committed.
A similar share of Israelis (45%) see at least some commitment to peace in the Fatah-controlled Palestinian Authority, which governs parts of the West Bank.
One-in-five Israelis say Hamas is at least somewhat committed to lasting peace, while 72% disagree. This includes a 67% majority who say Hamas is not committed to peace at all.
Read more about Israeli views of Israeli and Palestinian leaders in Chapter 4, and about commitment to peace in Chapter 1.
Related: Most people across 24 surveyed countries have negative views of Israel and Netanyahu
How Israelis differ from one another
On many of these questions, we find large gaps between demographic groups in Israeli society – particularly between Israeli Jews and Arabs, but also between Israelis with different ideological leanings.
Views by ethnicity
- Israeli Arabs are more optimistic about peace than Israeli Jews are, with larger shares saying that coexistence with a Palestinian state is possible (40% vs. 16%) and that international recognition of a Palestinian state is likely in the next five years (62% vs. 34%).
- Israeli Arabs are more likely than Israeli Jews to say West Bank settlements, the status of Jerusalem, and conflict between Hamas and Fatah are major obstacles to peace. Jews are more likely than Arabs to see distrust between Israelis and Palestinians as a major obstacle.
- 42% of Israeli Jews think Israel should control the Gaza Strip after the war ends, the most common answer within this group. Among Arabs, the largest share (45%) say the people who live in Gaza should decide who governs them.
Views by ideology
- Majorities of Israelis who place themselves on the ideological right, in the center and on the left say that the Israeli people are committed to peace – and that Hamas is not.
- Israelis on the right are more likely than other ideological groups to say the Israeli government is committed to peace, while left-leaning Israelis are more likely than others to say this of the Palestinian people and Palestinian Authority.
- While left-leaning Israelis are more likely than those on the right to predict international recognition for a Palestinian state and to think coexistence is possible, they are also more likely to see several issues as major obstacles to peace.
- Left-leaning Israelis are more likely than those on the right to say international actors other than the U.S. are helpful to long-term peace efforts.
Views by Jewish religiousness
We also find differences between Jewish religious groups. Hilonim (“secular”) and Masortim (“traditional”) are more likely than Haredim and Datiim (“ultra-Orthodox” and “religious”) to say the Palestinian people and Palestinian Authority are committed to peace, and also more likely to see various international actors as helpful to peace efforts. Haredim and Datiim are more likely than Hilonim and Masortim to call for Israel to govern Gaza after the war.
Jewish religious groups in Israel: Haredim, Datiim, Masortim and Hilonim
Nearly all Israeli Jews identify as Haredi (commonly translated as “ultra-Orthodox”), Dati (“religious”), Masorti (“traditional”) or Hiloni (“secular”). The spectrum of religious observance in Israel – on which Haredim are generally the most religious and Hilonim the least – does not always line up perfectly with Israel’s political spectrum. On some issues, including those pertaining to religion in public life, there is a clear overlap: Haredim are furthest to the right, and Hilonim are furthest to the left, with Datiim and Masortim in between. But on other political issues, including those related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and views of the United States, differences between religious groups do not always mirror those between people at different points on the ideological spectrum. Because of sample size considerations, we combine Haredim and Datiim for analysis in this report.
For more information on the different views of these religious groups, read the Center’s 2016 deep dive on the topic, “Israel’s Religiously Divided Society.”
